Boiler vs. Furnace: What's The Difference And Which Is Right For You?

Difference Between Boiler And Furnace

Many people use the terms boiler, furnace, or boiler furnace interchangeably. However, they really are different things. When you’re trying to determine what is the difference between a boiler and a furnace, this guide can help.

Furnace Vs Boiler?

The two most common types of heating systems that are used in most homes these days are boilers or furnaces. While both will provide heat and warm air in your home, the way these appliances work and how they generate heat are different.

What Is A Boiler?

If you have radiators or connected baseboard heaters in your home, there’s a good chance you’re using a boiler to heat your home. Boilers hold water that gets heated. When the air’s hot enough, it gets circulated throughout the house using pipes. Check out the different types of boilers typically used in residential homes in the United States.

There are two types of boilers: gas and electric. Electric boilers have heating elements that heat up the water in the tank. Gas heaters will heat the water with gas and a flame similar to the way a gas water heater works. Both drive the warm air through the pipes to the end point, which heats the room using a radiant heat transfer method. That’s a fancy name for releasing the warm air into the room so that it heats it up.

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What Is A Furnace?

Furnaces are one of the oldest types of heating used in homes. In the olden days, they heated with wood or coal but now run on electricity or gas. Newer furnaces are highly-efficient using as much as 98% of the fuel it consumes. Learn and understand the different types of furnaces available in the market.

Furnaces work by converting energy into heat, which warms the air. Then, the air is forced throughout your home using ducts and vents. There are electric and gas furnaces. Both work to generate heat to warm the air and distribute it the same way through ducts and vents.

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Furnace vs Boiler: Which Is Better For Your Home?

If it’s a decision between boiler vs furnace, here are a few of the key differences to keep in mind.

Difference Between Boiler And Furnace

One of the keys to understanding the difference between boiler and furnace is the way they generate heat. Boilers heat up the water and move it through pipes to a radiator or baseboard heater. For a radiator, it’s got to be extremely hot to generate enough heat to warm the room. For example, heating up a room to a comfortable temperature might mean the radiator has to reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Gas and electric furnaces, by comparison, heat up air instead of water. Blower motors or fans are used to force the air into the ducts and out into vents in each room.

If you’re trying to decide between boiler vs furnace, make sure you take these pros and cons into consideration.

Pros And Cons Of Boilers

Pros

• Boilers don’t force air through ducts, so they don’t disturb or distribute dust or allergens that can accumulate inside ducts.
• Boilers are quiet. They don’t the kind of noise you may hear when a forced air system kicks on.
• Boilers can also be used to power floor pipes using radiant air to create heated floors and even heat

Cons:

• Boilers are generally more expensive than furnaces and forced air heating systems.
• Because boilers hold water, if the tank leaks or a pipe bursts, you may have a mess on your hands. 
• There’s also the potential – though rare – of the water freezing and pipes bursting if the temp goes too low and there’s a prolonged power outage.

Boilers and furnaces typically have long lives. They can last between 15 and 30 years with proper maintenance. Harsh weather conditions will require more usage, which can shorten the life of the appliance.

Pros And Cons Of Furnaces

Pros:

• Furnaces are less expensive to install
• Furnaces heat evenly and more quickly than Boilers
• Electric furnaces can get costly especially in cold climates

Cons:

• Less efficient than boilers
• Furnaces are noisier than boilers when they kick in
• Older furnaces were not energy-efficient
• The forced air through ducts can distribute allergens and dust

Today’s generation of furnaces is much quieter, more energy-efficient, and better at filtering out allergens than older models.

Boiler vs Furnace - Understanding Efficiency Ratings

When evaluating what is the difference between boiler and furnace, and which is better for you, the boiler furnace decision is just one of the decisions you’ll need to make. You’ll also need to decide whether you want gas or electric, and you’ll need to focus on efficiency.

The more efficient a boiler or heater is, the less energy it uses. There’s a way to measure this. It’s called the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating. The Federal Trade Commission requires new boilers or furnaces to post their AFUE so you can compare the efficiency of different types and models. This rating estimates how well each appliance converts energy into heat on an annual basis. For example, an AFUE rating of 80% represents that 80% of the energy used is converted into heat for the home. It doesn’t take into account any of the heat generated that’s lost during transmission via pipes or ducts or through an exhaust or chimney.

You’ll see the AFUE on the yellow tag on boilers and furnaces with a government Energy Guide label. It will also list the estimated yearly operating cost for comparison.

The more efficient your heating system is, the less energy it will use. However, the higher the efficiency rating, the higher the price will be.

Low-efficiency heating systems can have ratings between 56% to 70% AFUE. High-efficiency heating systems will have an AFUE rating between 90% and 98.5%. Most older boiler or furnace systems fell squarely in the low-efficiency range. Today’s conventional heating systems can achieve efficiencies as high as 98.5% - converting nearly all the fuel it uses to heat for your home.